A Birthday Staycation

We've been fortunate to be able to say, we get around.  After a handful of months of getting away at least once a month we've been idle over the holidays.  Okay, we did cancel a trip to DC, so there was a plan.  February is typically when we pick up again and get away for Julie's birthday / valentine's day.  It's been a tradition dating back to when we first met almost 10 years ago.

This year we decided on a staycation. "Wanting" a night sans-Owen we weren't ready to leave him for multiple nights this seemed like a reasonable compromise.

Gramma and Susie were kind enough to stay over and babysit so that we could head over to Uncle Ryan's party. Despite this advantage the day started early with Julie waking up Owen around 7.  She claims to have wanted to spend time with Owen on her birthday --  I think she just wanted the gift -- and Owen was ultimately less than impressed being awoken from his slumber. He did come around once he realized tissue paper would be involved.

Unimpressed Owen

Party time Owen

                            After a quick stop for a haircut we were on our way to downtown Toronto.  While Julie did her Master's downtown at U of T and I work downtown; we haven't spent much time recently enjoying the city. This should be a renewed visit.

With a complimentary night and suite upgrade about to expire at the end of February there wasn't much debating before booking at Toronto's old dame, the Fairmont Royal York.

Arriving at the hotel around 3 we were politely informed that our room wasn't ready (odd).  The hotel quickly offered a temporary room and to call us when our room was ready.  Since we had only traveled down the QEW to reach the hotel and our pre-dinner plans merely involved walking down Queen St W, we weren't put off.  Enjoying the sun we walked down Queen St W in search of the oft-funky shops we see while driving through. Intermingled with sex shops, consignment shops, comic shops,  and every other sort of shop imaginable were the independent clothing and baby shops (of course) that would be of interest to the birthday girl.

We hit up a few shops without any success on sizes as the seasons are changing and sales are abound. Julie did manage to find a book  for Owen at Kol Kid . She's been collecting this series of books for places we've been with Owen. Fortunately we stumbled upon Nadege patisserie for an energy boost.  If you're in the Trinity-Bellwoods area of Queen St W be sure to stop in -- you won't be sorry. Photos stolen from Sammy

After leaving Nadege we hopped over Ella and Elliot to pick up a magnet puzzle map I had been eyeing for some time.  Considering it's 5+ he might have a few years before it's a. not a chocking hazard and b. exciting to play with.  Either way, it's been out of stock and when we arrived they had one. If you're keeping count, Owen is +2 already.

Realizing it was getting late we hopped a cab back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Swapping rooms was easy and we were now in suite on the 17th floor; courtesy of Fairmont's President's Club program.  First off, this is a massive hotel commanding a length of Front St.  The hallways on the lower floors are insanely long and conjure images of The Shining.

Longest hallways ever

In typical Fairmont fashion the hotel's common areas are grand and tell a story of days gone by.  The rest of the hotel tell that same story but it's difficult not to think that this is your grandmother's hotel.  The suite was a lock-off -- a bedroom with a connecting door to a parlour twice the size of our living room and second full bathroom.

 

Not something I would have paid extra for unless we were potentially hosting guests -- but why not when it's free.

And we're off.  Last minute reservations had us eating dinner at 730p at Salt Wine Bar in little Portugal.  Our cabbie wouldn't shut up and conveniently drove past the restaurant and onto the next block.  We decided to bail and walk back as we were already late.  Approaching the restaurant the line was already outside and inside would-be diners were being told to come back in no less than 2 hours.  Good call on the reservations. Photos stolen from blogto

We started off with the charcuterie (incl. jamon iberico).  Delish. We ordered up a solid mix of 6 tapas; oxtail, pulled pork tacos, grilled calamari, lobster and risotto, arugula salad and goat cheese on crostini. All winners with the exception of the calamari which didn't suit our taste.  We, ok I, closed out with the 20yr Tawny, two scoops of chocolate sorbet which received the "both, chocolate?" response from the server. It didn't take long to know why.  A more appropriate label would have been double chocolate fudge sorbet.  Julie opted for the lighter sorbet and a cappucino.  Since my sugar high needed to get me back to the hotel I went for the double espresso as the real closer.

Smells like an esporao

A short cab ride back to the hotel and our reservation at the Library bar was waiting. We peaked in
and with enough empty seats we headed up to drop our coats.

The birthday girl was extremely diligent in thanking the connected world for all the birthday wishes.

Returning to the Library bar, the space, while large, had gotten busier.  We snuck a seat in the corner and enjoyed a night-cap of champagne while enjoying the live music -- and watching the musician seemingly work the room in between sets.

We shut down the bar with the staff flipping all but our chairs on to the tables.  Making our way back up to the room was as bit foggier than when we had left for dinner.  My memory of it looks something like this ..

Although Julie claims it was more along these lines ..

At the end of it all a wonderful (local) birthday celebration for my beautiful wife.  Happy 22^nd my dear.

San Diego Zoo

At the end of our visit Owen fell into his customary sleep.

With the sun shining on Saturday morning we set out for the brief 30 minute drive to the San Diego Zoo. While neither of us are zoo experts, this zoo seemed to be nicely condensed with no down-time between exhibits. All the exhibits or habitats are open-air which is nice, particularly when navigating crowds with a stroller.

Owen enjoying the fishies.

Some of the exhibits truly capture the native habitat.  Definitely cheaper than a flight to another continent -- although there seems to be a 2:1 ratio of people to strollers -- aka lots of strollers!

One of Ron's favourite exhibits was mama and baby hippo.  Baby hippo kept trying to elude mama but she never left his/her side.  They often were wedged together in a corner pressed up against the display glass.  We didn't get a photo of this since every kid in the part was busy inspecting them.

Owen's adapting well to the West coast culture preferring to wear his hat with some attitude.

Wuddup Dawg

The cool and sunny climate seems to keep most animals happy.  Many were busy running around or performing some act for the visitors.

The leopard was showing off running across fallen trees and climbing to the very top of trees.  It wasn't the most graceful climber often slipping and making viewers think it would plummet to the ground but the tree provided no match for its sheer strength as it made its way to the top.

The polar bear reminded everyone of its dominance on the food chain.

Then quickly realized it was too nice of a day to be rude.

The prized exhibits at the zoo are the Giant Pandas -- one a few zoos in the world to have the species on display.  It's also been the most successful are panda reproduction in captivity. Another useless fact,  the zoo grows over 40 varieties of bamboo for the pandas who are on long-term loan from China.

Red Panda

I bet you didn't know about the Red Panda who is slightly larger than your house cat.  They mostly resemble a furry-fox if you were to ask me.

Bai Yun is the mother of all giant pandas born in captivity at the zoo.  At birth they weigh 100g - 200g and grow to weigh 175-280lbs.

The zoo also grows 18 varieties of eucalyptus for the resident koalas.  They didn't seem to want to be bothered.

And we had to stop by the Urban Jungle for Julie ..

At long last, Julie's favourites the giraffes.

All in all a great day at the zoo.  We finished the day by heading back up the coast and staying at the Fairmont Newport Beach.  We only needed one more night to reach top-level at in the Fairmont which includes complimentary nights and suite upgrades -- which will be handy for our trip out West next spring. It's the oddest location for a Fairmont that we've ever seen.  Which probably contributes to its Holiday Inn rates -- perfect.

Of course before making it to the hotel we stopped for some more shopping.

Taking a breather.

We tried to sneak on the patio at R+D Kitchens, where we ate the other day, only to be told that there was a 45 minute wait.  Unfortunately Owen isn't so patient and we headed to the hotel.

Fashion Island at night

With the forecast calling for rain most of tomorrow we figured the desert would be the best chance at escaping the downfall.  Off the Palm Springs!

Working & Living Abroad

On Wednesday (until Friday) Ron had to go his client's office.  Fortunately the office is less than 5 minutes away; a welcome respite from the commute back home.

Owen and Julie had the days to themselves.  While Owen may be a tad small to enjoy the amenities at the hotel Julie had him out there partying on the splash pad regardless.  The arcades and other game rooms might be more fun for mom and dad but at least there's plenty to walkabout and see.

Grand Pacific Palisades is a family resort/timeshare gig; plenty of amenities for the kiddies.

After exhausting the hotel's entertainment they headed down to the Carlsbad Outlets. As previously mentioned the nice thing about shopping plazas or centers is that the stores are all like strip plazas back home, so there's plenty of enjoyable outdoor walking.  Of course the fact that this area of California has 360 days of sun and less than 10" of annual rain may help.

A lil snack at the outlets.

As Julie and Owen made a few trips to the outlets during the week Ron even met up us with us for lunch.  Being close definitely has its advantages that we don't get back home. And of course Daddy being back at the hotel in less than 5 minutes after he leaves the office is exciting for Owen.

Friday was one of the rare rainy days in SoCal so Julie and Owen planned to visit the Sea Life Aquarium at LegoLand since it's directly across the street.

I ain't afraid of no shark.

Owen continued his fascination for brightly coloured aquatic life since his first encounter at Harrods in London.

"Is that the fish from Deuce Bigalow?"

The aquarium wasn't huge as it doesn't try to compete with SeaWorld.  It was a perfect size for our visit and kept Owen entertained long enough until we were done and he decided to take a nap for our brief walk across the street.

Thank you Sea Life Aquarium!

Tomorrow is Saturday and the entire family is off to the world famous San Diego Zoo.

Orange County Shopping

Owen traveled lightly this trip

After check-in around 9pm we ordered up some room service and then Ron crashed.  Actually he was sleeping before the food even arrived. Brief discussions of heading down to the empty pool and hot tub quickly dissipated as the team fell asleep.

Ron got up early, easy to do when you're asleep when he was, to go for a run.  The run took him down to Lantern Bay Park and Dana Cove Park along all the marinas that host the plethora of whale-watching charters.

Dana Point Marina

After the run we got all packed up and headed out for breakfast at the hotel.

Owen was loving the temperature; even better with the fire places.

After breakfast we trucked down the hill to Dana Point to walk the same route that Ron ran earlier that morning.  Passing all the stand-up paddle boarders Ron was very tempted to ask one to borrow their boards to give it a try.  Realizing that he would probably fall into the water he decided to hold off given he had no change of clothes.

Once we reached the Dana Point Marine refuge we decided not to go walking down the rocky beach and simply headed back along the same route.

Cruising around Dana Point

Upon leaving the hotel we stole the in-room OC magazine that featured a heap of top local boutiques, many carrying local wares.  The first stop landed us in Newport Beach on Balboa Island.  Walking the main strip reminded us of our visit farther up the coast in Carmel (by-the-sea).  Small boutiques with food shops mixed in.  The two boutiques reported in the magazine were hits with Julie picking up a few pieces (even on sale) and us finishing our visit with some chocolate/caramel pretzels.  Not to shabby.  Straying from the boutique route we hit up Fashion Island which we passed en-route to Balboa Island.  Most of the shopping complexes we've seen in Cali or Florida are outdoors with the large retailers (NM, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Macy's) at the far end.  This makes walking around the shopping areas rather nice since you're enjoying the outdoor weather and they're typically well designed.  This area included koi ponds like the shops at Bal Harbor, FL.

Enjoying the shopping, weather and sights.

We did some minor damage shopping here and by this point had given up our plan of stopping by Salt Creek and Monarch beaches -- both flanked by hotels towering above the cliffs. 

Owen rocking his new Toms

We stayed at Fashion Mall to grab dinner at R & D Kitchen which seemed to be one of the busiest and more importantly had room on the outdoor patio and even more importantly, had heaters.  It gets cool at night.  The heaters created a nice red glow for the camera to pick up.

Owen enjoying his dinner before ours.

Despite running out of pulled pork for Ron's sandwich the recommended french dip was delicious and everyone was happy with their selections.

Since Ron needed to start work tomorrow we decided we should probably check-in to the hotel before midnight and with an hour drive ahead of us we were pushing our luck.  We jumped back on the 5 to get down to Carlsbad and settle in at Grand Pacific Palisades for the next week+.

SoCal; San Diego, La Jolla & Dana Point

Today the entire family shuttled down to San Diego to hang-out while Ron did some work.  We got off to an early start with Owen helping out on the plane.  Originally we had hoped to tack on a good number of days to the work portion of our travels but the engagement dates changed and ended up being bookended by Ron's golf trip to Myrtle Beach and Owen's baptism.

Since we're now carting around a household worth of items we're cruising in the rental SUV.  Definitely roomier than anything we have back home.  After landing in San Diego we headed over to the Gaslamp Quarter to grab some lunch.  The area is littered with bars and restaurants and even had some mid-day Halloween parties going on.  Unfortunately the first few places we hit up were between lunch and dinner.  Finally we found a craft beer joint that was still serving lunch.  Food was great, although the fish tacos the city is known for were a bit fishy, and Ron opted for an Allagash that we first discovered in Boston.

Ron tried to give him a fish taco but all he wanted was rice cereal.

Without a plan and a day and a half of free time we ditched San Diego and headed North up the Pacific Coast Highway to La Jolla.  This affluent portion of San Diego county has the highest home prices in the US.  In 2009 the average price of a 4-bedroom was over 2 million beans.  Crazy. That trivial fact aside, La Jolla Cove and the Children's Pool, name of the beach area, offers great views of the basking sea lions.

Walking in La Jolla

Sea lions basking in the sun (middle of the picture) 

Landmark from 1902.

After La Jolla we decided to continue heading North to Dana Point for the night.  En route we drove into a massive Halloween festival with kids and parents everywhere.  This was obviously Julie's dream come true and we pulled over and dressed Owen.

What up dog.

Julie, Owen and the Halloween Princess.

At the end of a long day we decided to check in at the Marriott Laguna Cliffs in Dana Point.  Not my first choice but it was late and we were plan-less -- and when the sun came back up, it turned out to be a decent choice with a great breakfast.

Owen shut it down early.